Hand stamping device.



I Patented Oct. 9, I900. G W. LANKFORD. HAND STAMPING DEVICE.

(Application fllud my 8, 1900.)

(No Model.)

' //v vavroa 6. Wank/0rd Unitas STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE WASHINGTON LANKFORD, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.

HAND STAMPING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 659,535, dated October 9, 1900.

Application filed May 3 1900.

T0 0.0 whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE WASHINGTON LANKFORD, residing at Topeka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented a new and Improved Hand Stamping Device, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is in the nature of a handmanipulated stamping device for printing designs in colors on oil-cloth or other material; and it primarily seeks to provide a deviceof this character of a very simple and economical construction capable of being easily manip ulated and which will effectively print the design with the difierent colors at one impression.

Generally my invention comprehends a holder of suitable shape and material having an impression or impacting face formed of felt or other like substance capable of absorbing and transferring as many colors as desired to be printed or impressed on the ar ticle to which the design is to be applied, and means for continuously supplying the different colors on the clearly-defined parts of the felt or impression body as it is transferred from the said impression-body to the article to be stamped.

In its complete make up my invention includes a body portion, made of sheet metal or other light but rigid material, having a lower or felt-pad-receiving portion and an upper portion, in which is held a number of colorholding founts that discharge respectively through a perforated diaphragm into different design-compartments formed on the lower or outer part of the body portion, in which the felt pad is held, said pad being in practice fitted to penetrate the several compartments whereby to receive the different colors on as many different portions as are design-compartments.

In its subordinate features my invention consists in certain details of construction and peculiar combination of parts, all of which will hereinafter be first described and then specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved stamp device.

nal section of the same, taken on the line 2 2 Fig. 2 is a longitudi-' Serial No. 15,355. (No model.)

of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section thereof, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view-of the pad. Fig. 5 is a detail section showing the correlation of the pad and a pair of design-compartments when it is intended to blend the edges of the two colors. Fig. 6 is a view of the same parts, showing them arranged to print the two colors with sharp clearly-defined edges. Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate two difierent designs as examples of what my form of stamp is capable of producing. Fig. 9 isa detail view, hereinafter referred to.

In its practical construction my improvement is made up of suitable material, the body portion 1 being preferably of tin tub ing round, square, or any other shape to suit the shape desired of the object to be stamped. The upper end of the body portion 1 terminates in a top or cap 2, which may be made integrally with the body or detachable, and the said portion 2 is suitably shaped whereby to conveniently fit the hand and permit the device being firmly grasped. The body portion 1 is horizontally divided by a partition or diaphragm3 into upper and lower parts 4 4, the lower part 4 being open at the bottom and the diaphragm 3 being provided at predetermined points with apertures 3 the purpose of which will presently appear.

5 designates what I term a divider, one

of such dividers being for each design or color to be used, the purpose of such dividers being to keep the ink or paint from mixing in the absorbent pad, presently referred to, until it comes down to the impression-face of the said pad. In the accompanying drawings I have shown a number of the said dividers a central one 5, into which one colorsay red-is fed, and others, 5, which surround the central one 5 and into which another color-say blue-is to be fed.

6 indicates what I term the impressionpad, which is made of felt or other like absorbent material which will take up the paint or ink at one side and discharge it by impression from the other side. Thepad 6 has an external shape to fit the hollow end of the tubular body 1, which when the device is adjusted for operation projects up into the several divided spaces, into which it is pushed until its lower edge comes flush or nearly flush with the lower edge of the body 1. The upper part of the body 1 has a second division or diaphragm plate 7, whereby to form a space between it and the perforated diaph ragm 3, and the dividers, before referred to, project up into the said spaces until the upper edges of the walls of the said dividers engage the diaphragm 7. The object in extending the walls of the dividers up into the space 7 is to provide a series of ink or paint holding wells, one well being used for each divider, it being understood that should the design to be impressed consist of four colors the body 1 would be equipped with four dividers, the upper ends of which would project into the space 4*, formed forink or paint holding wells. Each well has a filling-tube 8, which projects through the upper portion of the device, and the said tube is normally held closed by a rubber or cork stopper 8*.

When the design to be printed is in the nature of a floral representation, in which one or more of the flowers have a center of a color different from the petals or other parts there.- of, a supplemental tube 9 is provided, which extends down through the central divider 5, with its lower end passed through the impression-pad, the said end terminating in a plane with the lower edge of the said divider 5, and the said impression-pad, when the tube 9 is used, is cut out, as at 9", to receive the lower end of the said tube 9.

10 indicates a tube held within the tube 9, the lower end of which carries a piece of felt or other absorbing material, which normally closes the lower end of the tube 10, the said piece 11 being of a diameter to snugly fit up into the tube 9 when the tube 10 is at its normal position. The tube 9 forms, as it were, a barrel for the tube 10 to move in, and the said tube 10 is held up to its normal position by the spiral spring 12, held within. the barrel 9, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

By the arrangement of parts described it will be manifest that under normal conditions the piece 11, that forms the pad for impressing the center of the design, is normally held out of a printing position, it being understood that to cause the said piece 11 to print it is only necessary to. push the tube 10 down against the tension of the spring 12. The upper end of the tube projects above the tube 9, and the said upper end is open to receive the ink or paint, and the said end is adapted to be closed by a screw-cap or rubber plug 13.

From the above description, taken in connection with the drawings, it is thought the manner in which my stamping device can be operated will be readily understood.

It will be apparent that the different colors for the diiferent portions of the design will, by reason of the peculiar and novel manner in which the pad 6 is cooperatively combined with the divider members, be held in clearlydefined portions on the pad, and hence when the said pad is pressed down on the oil-cloth or other material'upon which it is intended to impress the design the ditferent parts of the complete design in their respective colors will be squeezed-out as the pad is pressed against the oil-cloth simultaneously, with the possible exception of the center, which is produced by subsequently pressing the tube 10 to bring its member 11 against the oil-cloth or other article upon which the'design is being made, it being also manifest that the design may be imprinted lightly, with its outlines sharply delineated by a certain degree of pressure, the same depending also upon the character of the paint or ink fed to the pad, or the design can be impressed solidly and with a diffused outline by increasing the pressure on.

the pad. However, to provide for positively producing a sharp outline or a difli'used outline irrespective of the degree of pressure applied the stamp-dividers and the impactingface of the pad are properly cooperativethat is, when it is desired to produce a sharp outline on a design, as illustrated in Fig. 8, the side edges of the dividers are extended entirely through the pad, as shown, whereby to positively separate the adjacent edges of the diiferent parts of the complete design.

For example, should the dividers be arranged to form a pansy, with the edges of the petals made of a lighter and more clearly defined color than the remaining portion, the edges of the dividers can be made double, as indicated at X in Fig. 9, and such edges extended through the pad to separate the petalrim-imprinting portion of the pansy and the separate leaves or petals from each other; but when it is intended that the edges of the petals or the diiferent portions of the design blend with each other the outer edgesof the dividers are not extended quite through the pad 6, (see Fig. 5,) but leave thin portions 6 between the edges of the differently-colored portions of the pad-in other words, leaving just a sufficient amount of pad at such inter mediate portions to take up a little coloring from the coincident edges of the different color-retaining portions of the pad to cause a blending of the said different colors at their meeting-points.

By extending the edges of the dividers down entirely through the pad it is possible to. print the edges of one petal of the flower over the body of another petal without blending the colors should the two petals have different tints.

In the construction of a stamp device such as described and shown as many colors may be used as wanted by providing the stamp device with as many founts or cells above the apertured diaphragm and a corresponding number of dividers under said diaphragm as are colors to be used, and the colors can be used in any variety and combination.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings the supplemental tubes 9 10 as passing down through the central divider, the

said tubes may be used at any other point,

or they may be dispensed with entirely without departing from the idea of my invention.

With my improved hand stamping device I am enabled to separately, correctly, and effectively produce beautiful combinations or blends and execute the painting or printing thereof, especially floral designs, as well as producing shaded and ornamental lettering in a much less time than would be possible to accomplish by hand.

My improvement is especially useful for distributing paint on white oil-cloth for household uses, and while I have illustrated the same as particularly adapted as a hand-operated stamp device I desire it understood that its use is not limited to hand application, as the same principle of construction with but slight modifications in detail could be used on revolving cylinders rotatable on a fixed shaft to engage with material passing under it or on a cylinder mounted upon a carriage movable over a stationary-held material.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A device for the purposes described,comprising a suitable body having a detachable cap at one end, the other end of the body being open, said body having a perforated diaphragm, a series of cells or founts for holding ink or paint mounted upon the diaphragm, a similar series of dividing partitions projected down from the diaphragm whereby to produce as many separate spaces under the diaphragm as are ink or paint holding cells above, a pad of absorbent material extended up into the said separate spaces its lower face forming an impression-surface, and its upper face a paint or ink receiving surface, substantially as shown and described.

2. Adevice for the purposes described,comprising a body portion, an impression-pad of absorbent material held on the outer end of the body portion, and means carried upon the said body portion for feeding different colors of ink or paint to the impression-pad, and division members projected into the pad from the inner side thereof and extending to a point near the outer face of said pad, whereby to keep the colors from intermixing within the pad except at the outer or impression surfaces thereof, for the purposes hereinbefore described.

3. Adevice forthe purposes described,comprising a body portion, an impression-pad of absorbent material held in the outer end thereof and means carried on the said pad for feeding the different colors of paint or ink to the pad and keeping the said colors from intermiXing in the said pad, and,a supplemental pad portion normally held out of an operative position, a spring-actuated hollow plunger connected therewith, said plunger being adapted to hold a coloring liquid, and a surrounding tube for separating the supplemental pad and its feed-pad from the other parts of the complete device, as specified.

4. In a device as described, the combination with the body portion having an apertured diaphragm, the impression-pad 6, held on the body portion under the diaphragm, a series of separate ink or paint holding cells discharging through the apertured diaphragm, a series of dividers 5 5, having a shape to suit the design to be painted, said dividers consisting of partitions projected down from the diaphragm into the pad with their lower edges terminating short of the impressionface of the pad, whereby blending-surfaces 6 for the intermixing of the different colors is produced on the pad, for the purposes specified.

5. As a new article, a stamping device for imprinting designs in different colors, consisting of a body portion 1, having asuitablyformed hand portion at the top and having an open bottom, said bottom having a shape to suit the design'to be printed, said body portion also having an apertured diaphragm dividing the same into upper and lower spaces, a series of separate ink or paint holding cells in the upper spaces discharging through the diaphragm, said cells each having a fillingtube, a series of divider-partitions, one set of partitions for each paint or ink cell projected down from the diaphragm, and a pad of absorbent material projected up into the different divider-spaces with its upper face held to receive the difierent colors projected from the different cells above the diaphragm, all being arranged substantially as shown and described.

GEORGE WASHINGTON LANKFORD.

Witnesses:

O. M. GRANT, W. J. LANKFORD. 

